I don’t like it.

I finished my flower painting. Or at least it seemed like I was finished. But I don’t like it. Take a look (interestingly enough that wall isn’t off-white but was painted the whitest white they had. Baaaaaad lighting, but the picture looks ok):

With shading.

I used the paper towel technique (it’s super complicated: you use a crunched up paper towel instead of a brush) to add the shading. I asked how one should properly shade, I’ll get to see that next week. I’m a bit frustrated with the teaching style; we’re being allowed to develop at our own pace, which is great (and the teacher is nice, no problem there) but I feel information is not forthcoming enough. I knew enough to ask about shading techniques, but I had no idea one should use purple to shade wherever possible. That was only suggested after I used Payne’s Grey. So what else am I not learning because I don’t know to ask? Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

No shading.

I actually think I prefer the way it looked before I added more layers. It was more turquoise-y. But the petals weren’t as clearly delineated.

With nothing!!

I mean, it definitely looks like a flower. And I think you can tell that the petals at the top are superseded over the petals of the bottom flower (superseded? did I use that term correctly?). But it just doesn’t have pizzazz. I like my stuff to have pizzazz. One person suggested that I just add some of my doodle patterns and I think I’ll eventually do that.

If I decide to leave this as is (I’m not going to add the doodle elements in class, because this was an exercise in realism) next up is a landscape painting. Abstract is ok, so I have my eye on this baby:

It’s painted by Gillian Mowbray. She has several paintings that look like this, definitely check out the link if you like the style. Mine won’t look exactly like this but I like the brightness and the opportunity for lots of distinction.

So that’s it. I must say it’s hard, this forcing oneself to paint in a style not one’s own. I don’t feel the same spark of inspiration. But that’s why I’m doing this, to challenge myself and expand my creative capabilities.